Babywise Week 6

Babywise Week 6

Our second week of giving Babywise a go went well! I can honestly say that getting Baby Girl on a schedule made our house a much more peaceful place.

I had hoped to use the schedule we created for Week 5 for more than just a week, but Norah had other plans in mind. So, following her cues (as I feel is a key element to the Babywise method), we made some small adjustments.

In today’s post, I want to share with you what Babywise has done for my family so far and what changes we made to Norah’s schedule this week and why.

What has Babywise done for our family?

First things first- Babywise has been great for us. Before, I was feeding on demand. As I mention in in my last post about our Babywise journey (Giving Babywise A Go), I used the pattern that Norah had established for herself when feeding on demand to create the framework for the schedule we would start following.

She was consistently going 2.5-3 hours between feeds. We just hadn’t started with a “first feed/ last feed” routine. Once we put that in place, the times of subsequent feedings were based around this timeframe.

At first, it was a little difficult. We would have to distract her from time to time to get her to make it to the next feeding. (NOTE: If she ever seemed like she was not able to wait, I fed her. If she cried a lot and wouldn’t be calmed, she ate. We didn’t starve her!)

After a couple days, she, too, began to follow the schedule. And believe me, she knew when it was eating time! If she was napping, she would wake up ready to eat right when that time rolled around. And after eating, she would stay up and play for just long enough to tire herself out for her next nap. It made it easy for me to plan my day and it gave her the sense of comfort that routine provides our little ones.

Why did we change her schedule?

This week, we decided to change her schedule a little bit. I began to notice that at night, I was having to wake her up to feed her, and she would only eat a little bit before falling asleep and refusing to eat any more.

For that reason, I decided to let her take control for one night. That night, she slept well past her 1:30 feed and didn’t wake up until 3:00! So, the next night, I let her sleep again. And again, she went till 3:00.

Boom! New feeding time. She merged her night feeds for us. No pain, no tears, no stress-filled nights. All it took was turning off the alarm and letting Norah tell us what she wanted.

I believe that this happened because we had her on the schedule during the day, and during the day she was getting plenty of feedings meaning she got her needed nutrients. In addition, we were able to ensure that she was getting enough sleep during the day to not be overtired at night. She got used to her schedule and adapted to it wonderfully. She ate eagerly when she was supposed to, played happily when it was time, and slept soundly when put down for her naps.

Moving Forward

We’re already well into Week 7 and about to start Week 8. We have another update to make, so be sure to check back soon to see what’s new with our Babywise journey!